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• Cooling Sunny Hanoi
• Ha Long Bay & Thien Cung Cave

While Ha Long Bay wasn’t as great as what I had expected, my third day itinerary has given me a satisfying trip with an unique experience. There were 15 of us, and we paid USD20 each to book for a day trip to Hoa Lu - the ancient capital city of Vietnam under the Dinh Dynasty.

The journey from Hanoi to Hoa Lu via highway took us about 2.5 hours, with 1 stop along the way.

Rice grains were easily spotted everywhere in Hoa Lu. They were left on the floor under sunshine for drying.

Hoa Lu Tam Coc - The Little Ha Long Bay

Our first stop in Hoa Lu, was a visit to Tam Coc (means three caves) at Boi River. Similar to Ha Long Bay, Tam Coc is also known for its picturesque limestone caves and islets.

Why should you visit yet another topology of limestone caves? Trust me, Tam Coc is not just “yet another limestone caves”; it offered me a distinctive experience.

Along the way to Boi River dock, you will find many stalls selling conical hats. This is because, the 2-hour boat ride under direct sunshine could potentially be quite hot for your skin. To me, I found it all right; as it was year end, the outdoor temperature was around 18C - 20C, comfortably cool despite the direct sunshine.

Visit Limestone Caves by Sampan

At Ha Long Bay, we were boating on big junks on the sea. However, at Tam Coc, we were visiting the spectacular natural scenes by rowing sampan (we didn’t need to row ourselves la hehe). Imagine these:

1. no sound and air pollution from mechanical engines
2. you can hear sound of splashing water, which comes from the contact between rowing pads and water
3. you’re enjoying the scenes from low level perspective (very close to water level)
4. the limestone caves are all so near to you

By these simple descriptions above, I’m sure you can tell that it’s so different Continue reading ‘Hoa Lu Tam Coc - Enjoy Beautiful Limestone View from Water Level’